What is College Good For?
 

I run into people sometimes that don't have a college education. Their argument always starts out with "its a waste of money", "they teach you shit about the real world", "you'll never use what you learn", etc. I always point out to them that college teaches you critical thinking skills, problem solving skills and the ability to network with like minds. At this point, their brain goes in a circular motion and they repeat their arguments.


All three or four acquaintances without a college degree also work a 40 hour week making less than 50k a year.

All my other friends with a college degree and a career are making way over a 100k a year.


Do you think college is a waste?

College is only a waste if you go for an 'education' I went to have fun, network, and learn a bit. The idiots that spent all day studying and worrying about grades are the same ones without jobs now wondering wtf happened.

No it is not a waste...the only thing I regret is not going to college.

People who get a degree have more options...

Any education is never a waste.
I gets harder to study when you get older.
Young people have minds like sponges and absorb more info.

Depends what and why you are going. If you are a rich daddy kid going for the "experience" i would consider that a waste. The people who i know went to college went so they could get a job. Only people who can afford go for the "experience". the regular college kid eats KD and lives in cramped dorm rooms i do not find that as an experience.

I make more than all my friends with a degree and i never went to college. But by the age of 15 i had figured out what i wanted to do with my life.

I think business experience trumps college any day.

critical thinking skills and problem solving skills if you do not have these by the age of 18 you are doomed anyway and it has nothing to do with college.

alot of you elders do not understand the world we live in now. you really really do not. i know so many people with degrees that arent even able to find a job.

i dont need a school to teach me anything, i will read about it on the internet and if i wanted to take it a step further find someone through my connections to teach me hands on. classroom teaching is dead, this is now a global market. your piece of paper means nothing now unless you can make people money (the real paper that matters)

so in short your question is to broad, you are grouping just like the other people who said it is a waste, i base things on individuals not groups. i bet you they didnt teach you to do that in school.

College is what you make of it... If you are there and think and treat it as a waste of time you will come out of it with nothing and sure enough it will be that--a waste. If you treat it as a stepping stone, for wherever it takes you in life, then you will succeed in making it worth your while.

I know people who have been successful with and without it so I hardly believe it is the only way to become successful either...

it boils down to the person. so yes it could be considered as a waste.

I'm predicting 3 pages for this post.

only good for creating a shit ton of debt imo

I'm not calling you one here, because you are not, but only a fool thinks they have these skills by 18... The hormone levels alone cloud the mind beyond any form of reason! ;)

It sounds like you had a head start in the business world and that far succeeds most of us I would bet, but their are bigger things in this world than just being successful in business. What if it fails? What if you make a few bad investments and can't cover the losses? What if you get involved in some killer lawsuit and can't recover? These things can happen to anyone, no one is impervious to this kind of bad luck. School is just an option that gives us a possible plan b

that is unless you're donald trump and have lots of rich friends to front you the money every time you go bankrupt anyway hehe

my skills i have developed are my plan b. i have worked for companies before. hired no problem without a degree. my experience is also my backup.

and all these things you post, what if the world ends tomorrow? what if you are hit by a car in university? there are a million things that COULD happen you can never be fully backed up in life.

it is because i am not afraid of failure i know i will succeed.

Depends on the person. People can obviously be successful with it and successful without it.

what if your industry collapses? what if it's shipped off to asia?

are you going so spend 50 years in school getting a "backup" for everything. every backup plan has its flaws.

This is brought up a lot. It all boils down to this: college educated people are more likely to succeed. Is it a guarantee? No. Can you succeed without a degree? Yes. Take 10,000 random people with a college education and take 10,000 random people with just a HS diploma. I will wager both my nuts that the college educated people are "better off"--e.g., more income, more toys, etc.

Business experience has nothing to do with college.

Critical thinking skills are developed when evaluating one's own thinking. So, by 18 years old you had the world figured out. Congrats!

Agreed...plus 1

while i do think college is largely useless it is a requirment just to get past the application step in most jobs. You could be a million times more qualified but if they see you with no college vs someone with, you'd lose regardless. i never went and always kinda wished i did.

Alot of times people with college educations think they know it all.. I think college is kinda outdated ever since this thing called the internet started... I'm not gonna pay a shitload of money for some bastard to read me a book for 3 months that I can read in 2 days.
Its a business thats all it is. :)

why do you think that is? they require a degree just for shits and giggles? or maybe they know that college grads are able to perform the job better and make them more money?

wow you are an idiot.

you couldnt put 2 and 2 together? seriously?

please quote where i said "So, by 18 years old you had the world figured out"

i've seen many very stupid very unqualified people get ahead simply because they have that piece of paper. it does not mean a person is any smarter than someone who doesn't have it. have you seen the people in college? most aren't too bright and are just following the path they think they have to take in life.

sure, there are bunch of idiots with a college degree...but still, if a non-college grad can perform the job just as well as the college grad, why would employers require a college degree?

:thumbsup

I don't agree with this at all. The same people that are smart at 18, keep being smart. The same people that are fuckups at 18 usually keep being fuckups.

I would venture to guess that a low % of individuals actually change drastically in the critical thinking/problem solving aspect of life between 18-25. And for those that do, I doubt college has any bigger affect than real life.

If they don't perform, they get fired. So, there isn't much weight to this.

A large sample of randomly chosen college educated people will, on average, be more successful and "smarter" than a large sample of randomly chosen people without a college education.

Yep, I have. I'm sure "most" (as in a majority, right?) are pursuing a degree so they can pursue a specific career they are interested in.

From my experience, the people that call college grads "stupid" or "just following the path they think they have to take in life" have an inferiority complex. And it's just silly. If you did well without a college education, good for you. It doesn't change the fact that on average, a college grad will be more successful than his uneducated counterpart. Simply look at income data based on education.

Obviously the 10,000 random college educated people will be better off because it still takes commitment and some smarts to get through college.

Of the 10,000 non-college people, a good chunk will be total fuckups in life. However, from that 10,000 you'll also get some that are far more successful than those in the college educated group.

So for those really successful non-college educated people, college isn't that important now is it?

It all boils down to the makeup of the individual.

Guess it depends on your definition of success.. I'd rather be poor and open minded than rich and book smart :)

That is a loaded statement.

Picking a very small select few which perform better than the average in the other group is entirely not the point. The question was "What is college good for?" And the answer is, one thing it's good for is that on average, a college educated person will perform better in life than his uneducated counterpart. Picking an exception to the overwhelming majority and saying "So, it's not important to them!" misses the point entirely.

It's good for your resume..that's about it unless you need to learn a specific trade.

Do the college educated people perform better because of the college degree or because of their mental makeup? Since they went to college they already have certain traits that would more than likely make them successful with or without a degree (just like the successful uneducated people).

I'm saying that your argument of picking 10,000 from both groups "misses the point" because the 10,000 uneducated group will contain many people that wouldn't be successful even if they received a "free" college degree.

if they are lucky enough to stick around 90 days or so and make it in the union, then no, they can't be fired that easily. living in ottawa there are a lot of government jobs and performance isn't terribly important. once you're in the union, you can require all sorts of BS for 'conditions' you may have, etc.


based on what? iq tests? random questions?


If you read my response you'd see that i regret not going to college. Though I have attended a few university classes just for fun it seems largely that what you actually learn there is rarely applied in the real world, aside from trade courses.

well said....

For one, it qualifies one to present a credible answer to the question posed in the title of this thread.

:2 cents:

Think you just answered your own question. All those without a degree and bullshit excuses like that just like to rational because they're lazy, socially inept morons who can't get off the computer and into a setting that would help them grow. College was the best time of my life and I think anyone else with a degree can agree with that. Not to mention, it's a stepping stone for graduate school.

QFT. There's a saying that applies to college as well. Work smart, not hard.

Thank you.

Looks like it's you who can't put two and two together. Perhaps college should have been your first option. You actually stated that by 15 you already knew what you wanted to do. He didn't claim you said anything about 18 years old, he just said that by 18 you already knew what you wanted to do. Since 18 comes after 15, and you had it figured out at 15, he's technically right, and you're the idiot.

This is retarded on so many levels. College is used for people to grow, to better themselves and to eventually develop their core traits. NOBODY is the same at 18 and later on like 25+. If you are, then I feel nothing but sympathy for you because you lack the ability to better yourself. People who are smart at 18 can stay smart or become morons, it's unclear because THEY ARE 18. Don't post stupid shit.

so it makes me lazy because i was in business since i was 15?
it makes me lazy because while my friends were getting drunk in their dorm rooms with dudes i was working at home till 4am banging my hot girlfriend in between breaks?

that sure sounds lazy and socially inept.

while some of my buddies were sitting in class twiddling their thumbs i was traveling.

i dont need a guide book to grow. i have always and will always continue to make my own opportunities and grow from those. if you think following the guidebook of society helps you grow you are a very confused man.

it is funny you have to thank someone else for a post because you are to inept to post your own. did they teach you that in school?

You'll forgive me if I don't believe any of that, especially given the posts you've made on here. But everyone can dream. Anyways,so if shit hits the fan and the adult business goes to hell, you're stuck. Oooooo you were traveling that's fucking awesome! I happen to do the same thing as you, WHILE going to college? Wouldn't you call that more efficient?

And if you think you're intelligent enough not to take guidance from anybody but yourself(you're in the porn industry), you're a very confused man.

You pretty much proved my point here and in your "you're an idiot" rant. I'm "to inept" to post, ROFL priceless. Thanks for playing champ.

wow you need to re read the post.

you didnt even read my prior post, this shows how much your biased shines through.

i commented about the age of 18 and "critical thinking skills, problem solving skills".

but hey you would think with a degree you would be capable of some sort of reading comprehension?

and 18 comes after 15? did they teach you that in college also. good for you!

Are you purposely trying to be stupid? I'll explain for the imbecile without a degree.

You said this:
I didn't need to read your previous post, I read your initial post about how you were 15 and had shit figured out. He said 18. So pay careful attention here retard. If you say you had it figured out by 15, and he then posts that you had it figured out 18, wouldn't that be the same thing essentially?

Wow, I can tell why you decided to forego school and go straight into this industry.

ahhh you poor poor soul.

by that time they invented something amazing. it is called the internet. have you heard of it? they also invented something called a LAPTOP.

do you know what you can do you a laptop?

YOU CAN BRING IT ANYWHERE!

and do you know what is great about working on the internet?

you can bring your LAPTOP and plug it into THE INTERNET. and work from anywhere.

i know amazing isnt it!

how do you travel 6 months of of the year while in school? hmmm what kind of community college program were you in? i take plenty of advice. but not from wannabe know it all who lacks common reading comprehension which you displayed your skills in this thread.

and i am the champ. it is easy to defeat someone like you who continually comes up with the most obvious answers in every situation. did your professor teach you that?

This is clearly too funny to make an insult ouf ot it. It's sad to see an incompetent individual digging himself lower and lower. And it's even more sad when said embarrassed individual needs to lie to himself instead of admitting he just got his ass handed to him.

ahhh so you didnt read my original post, thus you had no idea what he was even responding to. he wasnt responding to me being 15 and having my career figured out.

but nice try on the backtrack!

let me guess you are the guy who reads the last paragraph in an article and tells everyone what the story REALLY IS. :1orglaugh

Translation: I've been owned so I'm trying to deflect attention from my stupidity because I lack the ability to read and properly translate what someone said.

Thanks for playing Metalman:)

once again you have no real response.

i pointed out the fact i traveled and worked. which totally eliminates the point of your post.

but nice try again.
o and i owned you above also.

how does it feel? o thats right you cant make an insult because your entire post got owned. you have nothing to say anymore because i debunked everyone of your posts.

but hey "i got my ass handed to" :1orglaugh

I'll dumb it down for you. Regardless of what your post said.

You said this in your first post:

Regardless of your next post or what you were responding to, I'm sure he read your first post and responded with:
Do you see the similarities numbnuts? Or should I draw it for you with crayons?